A detailed breakdown of the Eagles' 53-man roster

Once the smoke settles on the 53-man roster, it’s always fun to catch your breath and take a step back and see exactly how the Eagles got where they are.

I broke down the 53-man roster by position, by age, by draft class and every other way I could think of.

Here’s what the Eagles have 12 days before the season opener in Detroit.

New-Look Roster

Only eight of the 53 guys on the roster were here before 2018. The eight with Super Bowl rings from Super Bowl LII are Brandon Graham, Jason Kelce, Fletcher Cox, Lane Johnson, Isaac Seumalo, Rick Lovato, Derek Barnett and Jake Elliott.

There are 16 players who weren’t on the roster last year and 34 who weren’t here in 2020. So only 19 who were on the roster as recently as 2019.

Building through the draft

All five 2022 draft picks made the team and eight of nine from last year – all but JaCoby Stevens. The final roster also includes seven of 10 picks from 2020, so 20 of 24 picks from the last three drafts are still here.

In all, there are 33 Eagles draft picks on the roster or 62 percent of the entire roster. There are also two players who were signed off practice squads (Jake Elliott, Boston Scott), one player acquired on waivers (Marcus Epps), six free agents (Rick Lovato, James Bradberry, Javon Hargrave, Zach Pascal, Haason Reddick, Kyzir White), five acquired by trade (Darius Slay, Gardner Minshew, Josiah Scott, A.J. Brown, Chauncey Gardner-Johnson) and six undrafted free agents (T.J. Edwards, Sua Opeta, Jack Stoll, Reed Blankenship, Josh Jobe, Josh Sills).

By Draft Round

Of the 33 players on the roster that the Eagles drafted, eight are 1^st-round picks, five were taken in the 2^nd round, four in the 3^rd round, five in the 4^th, one in the 5^th, eight in the sixth round and two in the 7^th.

Including all players, there are nine 1^st-round picks, eight 2^nd-round picks, five 3^rd-round, eight 4^th-round, two 5^th-round, 10 6^th-round, two 7^th-round and nine undrafted

Undrafted rookies

Of those nine undrafted players, three are undrafted rookies – Josh Sills, Reed Blankenship and Josh Jobe.

That’s the most undrafted rookies the Eagles have kept on the initial 53-man roster since 2016, when they kept Paul Turner, Dillon Gordon, Destiny Vaeao and C.J. Smith. They also kept three in 2013 (Matt Tobin, Damion Square, Jake Knott).

By Position

The 53-man roster includes two quarterbacks, three running backs, five wide receivers, three tight ends, 10 offensive linemen, five defensive tackles, four defensive ends, three SAM linebackers, five off-ball linebackers, five safeties, five corners and three specialists. 

Getting Younger

A surprising number of the Eagles’ cuts were older players. They released four players in their 30s and four more who are 27 or older.

The current 53 includes only five players in their 30s and 23 who are 24 or younger. Some 38 of the 53 – 72 percent – are 26 or younger.

Here’s a full breakdown of the roster by age as of Tuesday:

21 [1]: Nakobe Dean. 

22 [1]: Jordan Davis.

23 [10]: Reed Blankenship, Grant Calcaterra, Landon Dickerson, Kenny Gainwell, Cam Jurgens, Jalen Reagor, Josiah Scott, DeVonta Smith, Marlon Tuipulotu, Milton Williams.

24 [11]: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, Jalen Hurts, Tarron Jackson, Josh Jobe, Kyron Johnson, Patrick Johnson, Zech McPhearson, Josh Sills, Jack Stoll, Davion Taylor.

25 [7]: Shaun Bradley, A.J. Brown, Jack Driscoll, Jordan Mailata, Miles Sanders, Josh Sweat, K’Von Wallace.

26 [8]: Derek Barnett, Andre Dillard, T.J. Edwards, Marcus Epps, Avonte Maddox, Gardner Minshew, Sua Opeta, Kyzir White.

27 [5]: Jake Elliott, Dallas Goedert, Zach Pascal, Haason Reddick, Boston Scott.

28 [1]: Isaac Seumalo

29 [4]: James Bradberry, Javon Hargrave, Rick Lovato, Arryn Siposs.

30 [0]

31 [2]: Fletcher Cox, Darius Slay.

32 [1]: Lane Johnson.

33 [0]

34 [2]: Brandon Graham, Jason Kelce

Drafted by other teams

The current roster includes 11 players drafted by other teams: Haason Reddick [1^st round, Cardinals, 2017], Darius Slay [2^nd round, Lions, 2013], James Bradberry [2^nd round, Panthers, 2016], A.J. Brown [2^nd round, Titans, 2019], Javon Hargrave [3^rd round, Steelers, 2016], Kyzir White [4^th round, Chargers, 2018], Josiah Scott [4^th round, Jaguars, 2020], Jake Elliott [5^th round, Bengals, 2017], Boston Scott [6^th round, Saints, 2018], Marcus Epps [6^th round, Vikings, 2019], Gardner Minshew [6^th round, Jaguars, 2019].

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